The present invention relates to a camera and a spectroscope attachment for the camera and to methods including a method of color photography utilizing a spectroscope.
Cameras such as single lens reflex cameras are widely used for the photographing of scenes, including objects, persons etc., and the utilization of color film has gained wide acceptance and popularity. Photographers have sought to achieve diverse effects, such as realistic color photographs, artistic color photographs, etc. They have used various types of color film which have been developed over the years, and have used light modifiers, such as filters and polarizers, to achieve desired color photographic effects.
In practicing the art of photography, it has been traditional for the photographer to observe the scene, noting the coloration of the scene and the parts of it, and then to select, as desired, a particular light modifier.
In order to assist the photographer in determining the color of a scene, there have been produced color temperature meters, which are principally used for taking photographs in studios under lighting conditions where extreme accuracy of the color temperature may be required. Such meters compare the relevant amounts of blue and green light in a scene and give a direct reading of the color temperature, expressed in Kelvins. The purpose of such color temperature meters has been to indicate whether the chosen film should be used with or without a correction filter, but use of the color temperature meter is limited, from the practical standpoint, to studio photography. In addition, photographers select film and provide filters for correction in the event that the light from the scene to be photographed does not suitably match the color temperature of the particular selected film being used. This requires a reference to or the memorizing of such facts as that "daylight" film, intended for use at mid-day sunlight, must have an appropriate filter if used with artificial light, in order to avoid an erroneous yellow cast to the resulting photograph. Further, the selection of a filter is to a certain extent dependent upon the judgment or estimation by the photographer of the color temperature of the scene.
The above known equipment and procedures will be seen, therefore, to require either expensive and delicate instruments suitable principally for studio photography, or the memorization of or reference to charts and rules in order to provide a generally highly subjective estimation of color temperature, as in outdoor scenes.